Dawn Gets Sick
by Projectcompassion418
Summary: When Dawn gets meningitis it affects the whole Harper family. Will Dawn live?
1. Meningitis

Disclaimer: I don't own Nicky, Ricky, Dickie and Dawn.

* * *

Dawn lay on the hospital bed looking small. She was bruised and weak. Her parents never saw her like that.

It was six days since they heard the awful word.  
Meningitis.  
It started with a fever. Nobody thought much of it. They thought Dawn had a cold or maybe the flu. When Dawn got a headache they thought it was a sinus infection.  
Dawn started throwing up. That seriously concerned them.  
At the same time she was throwing up she started experiencing muscle pain. In addition she had a stiff neck. She was exhausted and started getting dizzy. Anne noticed a skin rash as well.

Tom and Anne made an appointment with the doctor for the following day. That night Dawn had a seizure. They rushed her to the hospital.  
After stopping the seizure the doctors ran a series of tests. Nicky, Dickie and Ricky were going crazy. There sister was in the hospital. The doctor came out and spoke to Anne and Tom. They explained that Dawn had Meningitis.  
The doctor had to check her into the hospital. She needed IV antibiotics every day, She got Ceftriaxone, Meropenem, Cefotaxime, Cefepime, vancomycin, Ampicillin and Ceftazidme every day through injections.  
She was on oxygen and needed several blankets to keep warm. The kids begged to see her.

"We would love for you to see her buddies," Tom said, "But even we can't see her. Dawn is really sick right now."

"Is she going to die," Nicky asked with tears in his eyes.

"She's getting the best care possible," Anne said not wanting to lie. The doctor made it clear that there was a chance Dawn was going to die. This horrified Tom and Anne. They never thought that they might lose their child. Dawn was their first child by 4 seconds.  
They would not tell the boys that their sister could die. If it happened they would deal with situation but they had no desire to even entertain that idea. It was just too horrifying.

* * *

Dawn felt tears come to her eyes. She felt horrible. Her eyes were dry. She could hardly stay awake. She was cold all the time. She missed her family so much. The doctor explained why her family couldn't see her.

"You see," the doctor said, "Your body is very weak now. You can't handle germs. That's why you can't have anyone come unless they are completely scrubbed and washed up and germ free. It can make you sicker."  
The doctor made it sound like she had AIDS or something. Dawn understood but she was none too happy about it.


	2. What Really Matters

Dawn closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep. She couldn't sleep. She couldn't get comfortable. Instead she took her notebook and started to write. She asked the nurse to take the notes she wrote to her parents and her brothers.

The one written to Tom said, "Dear dad, I love you. You're the coolest dad ever most of the time. I'm not going to let this disease beat me. Death can kiss my cute booty. Well that's all for now. Bye."  
Tom laughed.

"That is so Dawn," he said.

"What did she say to you," Anne asked.  
Tom showed her the letter.

The one she wrote to Anne said, "Dear mom, I love you and you're the coolest. I'm going to kick this meningitis right in the teeth. It doesn't like me and I don't like it but just like you taught me it doesn't have to like me. It just has to do what I tell it to do and I tell it to go away. I love you and I'll see you on the other side."

She wrote similar ones to Nicky Dicky and Ricky. Dawn started eating all the food that she was given. She knew she needed food for strength.

She started to get better slowly. By the end of the week she was out of the hospital. Finally the quad squad was back together.

Dawn still had to take some time to recover but after a few weeks they celebrated at the sports store with a trampoline party. They had pizza and used the flying ride. It took Dawn getting sick for the family to remember was was always important. Family. The rest is secondary.


End file.
